Fall 2016/Fuller Online

ET501

Brown

ET501: CHRISTIAN ETHICS (4 Units: 160 hours). Nicholas R. Brown.

DESCRIPTION: A foundational course in Christian ethics that studies core Christian ethical vision, values, and convictions (telos, norms, and virtues) shaping and guiding Christian moral agency, decisions, and ecclesial practices. The course discusses the methods of ethical decisions, authority of Scripture, formation of moral agency, norms of love and justice, together with the issues of economic, racial, and ecological justice, the sanctity of life, sexual faithfulness, and violence and peacemaking with special attention to global, pluralistic contexts of Christian ministry today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will demonstrate that they (1) understand core Christian moral convictions, vision, values, and virtues of Christian faith (the kingdom of God, covenant, law, cruciformity/cross, love and justice, human dignity, nonviolence, community, etc.); (2) have learned the basic skills of critical moral description, analysis, and ethical reasoning; (3) understand and can assess different ethical views and assumptions besides their own; (4) have gained competence in teaching Christian ethics in their own particular social contexts and in articulating their moral convictions in the public realm in conversations with others; (5) have learned how to identify and apply core Christian vision, values, and virtues to major contemporary ethical issues.

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours, which is outlined below in the assignment and assessment section. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING: Approx. 1,200 pp. of required reading.

De La Torre, Miguel A. Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins. 2nd Ed. Orbis, 2014. ISBN: 978-1626980754, Pub. Price $35.00 [147 pp. assigned].

Smedes, Lewis. Mere Morality: What God Expects from Ordinary People. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802802576, Pub. Price $22.00 [243 pp. assigned].

Stassen, Glen, and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. InterVarsity Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0830826681, Pub. Price $40.00 [382 pp. assigned].

Wright, Christopher J. H. Old Testament Ethics for the People of God. IVP Academic, 2011. ISBN: 978-0830839612, Pub. Price $32.00 [387 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Bahnson, Fred and Norman Wirzba. Making Peace with the Land: God’s Call to Reconcile with Creation. InterVarsity Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0830834570, Pub. Price $16.00.

Bantum, Brian. Redeeming Mulatto: A Theology of Race and Christian Hybridity. Baylor University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-1602582934, Pub Price $34.95.

Bell, Daniel M. Jr. Just War as Christian Discipleship: Recentering the Tradition in the Church rather than the State. Brazos Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-1587432255, Pub. Price $26.00.

Cahill, Lisa Sowle. Sex, Gender and Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0521578486, Pub. Price $44.99.

Camosy, Charles. Too Expensive to Treat? Finitude, Tragedy and the Neonatal ICU. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2010. ISBN: 978-0802865298, Pub. Price $18.00.

Cavanaugh, William T. Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008. ISBN: 978-0802845610, Pub. Price $14.00.

Isasi-Díaz, Ada María. En La Lucha: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology, Tenth Anniversary Edition. Fortress Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0800635992, Pub. Price $23.00.

Marshall, Christopher D. Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime and Punishment. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, Co., 2001. ISBN: 978-0802847973, Pub. Price $30.00.

Vines, Matthew. God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. Random House Publishing, 2014. ISBN: 978-1601425164, Pub. Price $22.99.

Yoder, John Howard. The Christian Witness to the State. Herald Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0836192094, Pub. Price $14.99.

Yong, Amos. Theology and Down Syndrome: Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity. Baylor University Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-1602580060, Pub. Price $39.95.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Weekly lessons including audio files, videos, précis, teacher’s posts, other directed learning activities [15 hours].
2. 250 to 350-word weekly posts and 3 100-word weekly replies (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [29 hours].
3. 1,200 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5] [60 hours].
4. 2,000-word term paper comparing 2 Christian ethical perspectives analyzing a variable that affects the outcome of moral issue within the student’s context (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-2, 4-5]. [16 hours].
5. Group project totaling 4 single-spaced pages per member broken into smaller assignments, helping students grow in specialized knowledge of a specific topic and apply class concepts to a topic not covered by lectures (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5] [16 hours writing; 10-12 hours group interactions/editing].
6. An Ethics in the Real World Project that includes a 4-hour observation with 2-page, single-spaced write-up at a non-profit or the execution of a 3-hour ministry project with 1-page plan/1-page follow-up analysis to help students apply class concepts beyond the classroom with plan/follow-up analysis (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5] [12-14 hours, including travel time].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C4 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program, 80 MATM, and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets ETH in the 144 MDiv Program. Meets MAT program requirement (Winter 2010) and Seminary Core Requirement (SCR) for other MA degrees (Winter 2010). Requirement in Christian Ethics emphasis and Just Peacemaking emphasis.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.